STORRS — Either Randy Edsall was watching a different tape of UConn's game against Towson or he and UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni had completely opposite reactions to what they saw.

Edsall, who makes a homecoming tonight by bringing his Maryland team to Rentschler Field, said he noticed Towson hit a couple of big pass plays against the Huskies. Pasqualoni lamented the fact that Towson broke off four running plays that went for 20 or more yards.

The fact that both coaches are correct is the problem for UConn. Allowing big plays is the enemy of any defense, but it has been a particular problem for the Huskies in the last couple of years.

"The ball got outside on us because of a couple of contain issues," Pasqualoni said of Towson's amassing 101 of its 201 rushing yards on five plays. "We're trying to address those things. I'm not into giving up five runs of 20-plus yards."

Pasqualoni defines big plays as rushes of 20 or more yards and passes of 40 or more yards. UConn has given up a number of those in Pasqualoni's time. Some of them didn't ultimately hurt the Huskies, but some really made things difficult.

Former coordinator Don Brown's defense was incredibly aggressive and, true to UConn history, among the best in the country overall. But it was also susceptible to being hit for huge gains because of its aggressiveness.

New defensive coordinator Hank Hughes is slightly more conservative, but at least through one game the same issue appeared. Sometimes, it's a matter of the offense calling for the perfect play against a particular defense. Often times, it's a matter of the defense being out of position. Nothing can be done about the former, but the latter is correctable.

"There were a lot of little technique errors," UConn defensive end Tim Willman said. "They snowballed on us. One guy did this and another guy did that and — boom — big play. It was one of those types of deals.

"We've been working hard to make sure we're fundamentally sound and correct with our techniques."

They need to be against Maryland.

Certainly the Terrapins have not played great competition in Florida International and Old Dominion. However, they did what they were supposed to do against those teams. Already Maryland (2-0) has amassed nearly 1,200 yards of offense with plenty of balance. In that balance are big plays galore.

Five different ball carriers have at least one rush for 20 or more yards. Maryland's longest pass play is a 66-yard catch from Stefon Diggs, a sophomore who is a threat all over the field and who averages 25.2 yards per catch. Quarterback C.J. Brown is Maryland's second-leading rusher and also happens to have thrown for 556 yards while completing 75.6 percent of his passes.

This is not the kind of offense UConn fans will remember from Edsall's days. This one is not nearly as methodical as it is explosive.

"With Stefon Diggs and C.J. Brown, they're kind of the big-play headquarters of America right now," Pasqualoni said. "We're aware of it, and we're talking about it. We've had conversations about not giving up big plays every game I've ever gone into. We've certainly had a lot of those discussions the last two years. Like every team, we go out and practice not giving up big plays."

The practical and actual have not melded as much as necessary in the last two years. Part of the result has been growing dissatisfaction that reached its zenith with Bronx cheers raining on the Huskies during the opener.

A plethora of big plays from Maryland, with Edsall at the helm, will only exacerbate things.

"We have to elevate our performance to have the boos stop," offensive lineman Steve Greene said. "We have to have the fans cheering rather than booing."

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